Overview

The Media Center's 2006 Trust in Media research project included a 10-nation study of perceptions of trust in media, as well as an e-survey (you can take the e-survey here).

The research was commissioned jointly by The Media Center, Reuters and the BBC, and released and discussed at the We Media Global Forum, conducted May 3-4, 2006, in London.

More people trust the media than their governments, especially in developing countries, according to a ten-country opinion poll for the BBC, Reuters, and The Media Center.

Media is trusted by an average of 61 percent compared to 52 percent for governments across the countries polled. But the US bucked the trend -- with government ahead of media on trust (67% vs 59%) along with Britain (51% vs 47%).

Trust in media was highest in Nigeria (88% vs 34% gov't.) followed by Indonesia (86% vs 71%), India (82% vs 66%), Egypt (74%, gov't. not asked), and Russia (58% vs 54%).

National TV was the most trusted news source overall (trusted by 82%, with 16% not trusting it) - followed by national/regional newspapers (75% vs 19%), local newspapers (69% vs 23%), public radio (67% vs 18%), and international satellite TV (56% vs 19%). Internet blogs were the least trusted source (25% vs 23%) - with one in two unable to say whether they trusted them.

TV was also seen as the most 'important' news source (56%) followed by Newspapers (21%), internet (9%) and radio (9%).

One in four (28%) reported abandoning a news source over the last year after losing trust in its content.

A total of 10,230 adults were questioned by GlobeScan in the UK, USA, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, and South Korea in March and April.

For an overview of each country visit the country profiles.